{"id":4739,"date":"2025-05-29T14:43:07","date_gmt":"2025-05-29T14:43:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/?p=4739"},"modified":"2025-05-29T14:43:07","modified_gmt":"2025-05-29T14:43:07","slug":"china-uyghur-xinjiang-labor-transfers-html","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/?p=4739","title":{"rendered":"Uyghur Workers Are Moved to Factories Across China to Supply Global Brands"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"g-extended-byline-wrapper g-theme-undefined svelte-bx9w1d\">\n<div class=\"g-extended-byline-container svelte-bx9w1d g-wrapped g-multi\">\n<div class=\"g-byline-bio-wrapper\">\n<p class=\"g-byline svelte-10de1fz\"> <span class=\"g-last-byline svelte-10de1fz\"><!-- HTML_TAG_START -->By David Pierson, Vivian Wang and Daniel Murphy<br \/>Graphics by Pablo Robles. Produced by Nico Chilla and Rumsey Taylor<!-- HTML_TAG_END --><\/span>  <\/p>\n<p>  <time class=\"g-interactive-timestamp svelte-1xfuih8\" datetime=\"2025-05-29T05:00:51-04:00\">May 29, 2025 <\/time> <\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p class=\"g-text  svelte-wbgwfj\"><!-- HTML_TAG_START -->China\u2019s mass detention and surveillance of ethnic Uyghurs turned its far western region of Xinjiang into a global symbol of forced labor and human rights abuses, prompting Congress to ban imports from the area in 2021.<!-- HTML_TAG_END --> <\/p>\n<p class=\"g-text  svelte-wbgwfj\"><!-- HTML_TAG_START -->But the Chinese government has found a way around the ban \u2014 by moving more Uyghurs to jobs in factories outside Xinjiang.<!-- HTML_TAG_END --> <\/p>\n<p class=\"g-text  svelte-wbgwfj\"><!-- HTML_TAG_START -->A joint investigation by The New York Times, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thebureauinvestigates.com\/stories\/2025-05-29\/chinas-economy-runs-on-uyghur-forced-labour\">the Bureau of Investigative Journalism<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.spiegel.de\/ausland\/zwangsarbeit-in-china-spiegel-recherche-zeigt-ausmass-der-uiguren-ausbeutung-a-6d31cd6c-d250-4d71-b052-5ae54ffa1a48\">Der Spiegel<\/a> found that state-led programs to ship Uyghur workers out of Xinjiang are much more extensive than previously known.<!-- HTML_TAG_END --> <\/p>\n<p class=\"g-text  svelte-wbgwfj\"><!-- HTML_TAG_START -->China has placed Uyghurs in factories across the country that make a wide range of goods used in brand-name products around the world, the investigation found. And it has done so with little to no visibility for supply-chain auditors or border and customs officials charged with spotting labor abuses and blocking the import of tainted goods.<!-- HTML_TAG_END --> <\/p>\n<p class=\"g-text  svelte-wbgwfj\"><!-- HTML_TAG_START -->Both the United States and the European Union have adopted laws aimed at preventing consumers and businesses from funding the persecution of Uyghurs in China. These state-run labor transfer programs pose a significant challenge. It may be possible to target imports from Xinjiang, but tracking the relocation and treatment of workers from Xinjiang to factories across China is a much more difficult endeavor.<!-- HTML_TAG_END --> <\/p>\n<p class=\"g-text  svelte-wbgwfj\"><!-- HTML_TAG_START -->By the best available estimates, tens of thousands of Uyghurs now toil in these programs. The workers are paid, but the conditions they face are unclear. And U.N. labor experts, scholars and activists say the programs fit well-documented patterns of forced labor.<!-- HTML_TAG_END --> <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"g-text  svelte-wbgwfj\"><!-- HTML_TAG_START -->China makes no secret of these labor transfer programs. It says that participation is voluntary and argues that moving Uyghurs into jobs across the country gives them economic opportunities and helps address chronic poverty in Xinjiang.<!-- HTML_TAG_END --> <\/p>\n<p class=\"g-text  svelte-wbgwfj\"><!-- HTML_TAG_START -->But experts and activists say Uyghurs usually have no choice but to accept the job assignments, and that the programs are part of Beijing\u2019s efforts to exert control over a minority population that has historically resisted Chinese rule. As many as 12 million Uyghurs, a Central Asian, Muslim people, reside in Xinjiang, located on the border with Kazakhstan.<!-- HTML_TAG_END --> <\/p>\n<p class=\"g-text  svelte-wbgwfj\"><!-- HTML_TAG_START -->In the United States, the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act bars imports from Xinjiang, unless the importer can prove that they were not made with forced labor. Forced labor has been reported in different forms in Xinjiang, in prisons, mass internment camps and large-scale relocation programs within the region, and, the U.S. government says, in the production of cotton, textiles, critical minerals and solar panels.<!-- HTML_TAG_END --> <\/p>\n<p class=\"g-text  svelte-wbgwfj\"><!-- HTML_TAG_START -->The U.S. law also bars imports from companies outside Xinjiang that work with the government to receive workers from Xinjiang who are Uyghur or members of other persecuted groups.<!-- HTML_TAG_END --> <\/p>\n<p class=\"g-text  svelte-wbgwfj\"><!-- HTML_TAG_START -->But that provision is difficult to enforce, leaving a blind spot for those trying to root out forced labor from supply chains.<!-- HTML_TAG_END --> <\/p>\n<p class=\"g-text  svelte-wbgwfj\"><!-- HTML_TAG_START -->The transfer of Uyghur workers from Xinjiang is a potential flashpoint in the trade war between China and the Trump administration, which has accused Beijing of \u201cripping off\u201d the United States and producing goods at artificially low costs, including through exploitative labor conditions. Marco Rubio, the secretary of state, was one of the 2021 law\u2019s lead authors when he was a Florida senator.<!-- HTML_TAG_END --> <\/p>\n<p class=\"g-text  svelte-wbgwfj\"><!-- HTML_TAG_START -->Our findings are based on an examination of publicly available government and corporate announcements, state media reports, social media posts and research papers. Among them are local government notices describing the number of Uyghurs transferred to factory sites, and state media reports on meetings in which officials discuss how to manage Uyghur workers. Some show photos of workers in neat rows at train stations before departing Xinjiang.<!-- HTML_TAG_END --> <\/p>\n<figure class=\"g-wrapper  svelte-141yli7 g-needs-margin-block\" style=\"\" aria-label=\"graphic\">\n<div class=\"g-block g-block-margin svelte-1jrfrvl g-margin-inline\" style=\"\">\n<div class=\"g-block-width g-max-width-720px svelte-1jrfrvl\" style=\"max-width: 720px;\">\n<div class=\"g-wrapper_caption g-text-align-left svelte-1w7duvf\">\n<p class=\"g-caption svelte-1w7duvf\"><!-- HTML_TAG_START -->A sendoff ceremony for a group of migrant workers from the city of Hotan in Xinjiang in 2020.<!-- HTML_TAG_END --><\/p>\n<p class=\"g-source svelte-1w7duvf\"><!-- HTML_TAG_START -->Source: gov.cn<!-- HTML_TAG_END --><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p class=\"g-text  svelte-wbgwfj\"><!-- HTML_TAG_START -->The scale of the labor transfers is evident on Chinese social media, where Uyghurs have posted videos of themselves leaving home, working on factory lines and posing outside dormitories. We determined where the videos were shot by comparing the features of buildings and streets with satellite imagery, street-view maps and publicly available photographs of factories.<!-- HTML_TAG_END --> <\/p>\n<p class=\"g-text  svelte-wbgwfj\"><!-- HTML_TAG_START -->Some videos<strong> <\/strong>show other Central Asian minorities from Xinjiang, including Kazakhs and Kyrgyz people, who also face persecution and are covered by the U.S. law.<!-- HTML_TAG_END --> <\/p>\n<p class=\"g-text  svelte-wbgwfj\"><!-- HTML_TAG_START -->Reporters from The Times and Der Spiegel visited the areas around two dozen factories linked to Uyghur labor in eight cities in the central province of Hubei and the eastern province of Jiangsu, and spoke to more than three dozen workers as well as the owners of restaurants and other businesses frequented by them.<!-- HTML_TAG_END --> <\/p>\n<p class=\"g-text  svelte-wbgwfj\"><!-- HTML_TAG_START -->We did not ask interviewees for their names to minimize the risk of retaliation by the authorities, who consider the treatment of Uyghurs to be a national security issue. (We are also not disclosing the names of the people whose social media videos we found and we have blurred their faces to avoid exposing them.)<!-- HTML_TAG_END --> <\/p>\n<p class=\"g-text  svelte-wbgwfj\"><!-- HTML_TAG_START -->Several workers suggested, with some hesitation, that they labored under close supervision. They said their jobs had been arranged for them and that they sometimes needed permission to leave factory grounds, usually upon arrival. Security guards at some factories also confirmed they had been sent Uyghur workers by government agencies.<!-- HTML_TAG_END --> <\/p>\n<p class=\"g-text  svelte-wbgwfj\"><!-- HTML_TAG_START -->Other workers said that they had taken the jobs willingly and were staying in them on their own accord.<!-- HTML_TAG_END --> <\/p>\n<p class=\"g-text  svelte-wbgwfj\"><!-- HTML_TAG_START -->One worker in Hubei Province told The Times that he and about 300 other Uyghurs lived in a dormitory separated from staff identified as from the majority Han Chinese population. He said they were assigned minders from their home counties in Xinjiang, were allowed to leave the factory premises and could return to Xinjiang if they gave a month\u2019s notice.<!-- HTML_TAG_END --> <\/p>\n<p class=\"g-text  svelte-wbgwfj\"><!-- HTML_TAG_START -->He said he worked up to 14 hours a day, and earned a monthly salary of up to 6,000 yuan, or $827, about the national average for a factory worker in China. The interview ended abruptly when several men surrounded the worker and demanded to know who he was and why he was not at work.<!-- HTML_TAG_END --> <\/p>\n<p class=\"g-text  svelte-wbgwfj\"><!-- HTML_TAG_START -->Human rights advocates argue that Uyghurs have little choice but to accept such job assignments outside Xinjiang. If they refuse, they risk being labeled a \u201ctroublemaker,\u201d a serious charge in a region where people have been subjected to lengthy detentions for even the faintest signs of dissent or religious expression, like owning a Quran. At the same time, the jobs offer the promise of a higher wage, in contrast to the limited opportunities and tight surveillance that Uyghurs face in Xinjiang.<!-- HTML_TAG_END --> <\/p>\n<p class=\"g-text  svelte-wbgwfj\"><!-- HTML_TAG_START -->The vast majority of Xinjiang\u2019s labor transfers take place inside the region. The government said there were <a href=\"https:\/\/rst.xinjiang.gov.cn\/xjrst\/c112687\/202409\/9ca0397d590e4930b83c47ff2cd5c594.shtml\">3.2 million transfers in 2023<\/a>, a figure that includes workers being transferred more than once, and the tens of thousands sent to other provinces.<!-- HTML_TAG_END --> <\/p>\n<p class=\"g-text  svelte-wbgwfj\"><!-- HTML_TAG_START -->The International Labor Organization, a U.N. agency, said in a February report that the labor transfer programs appeared to use measures \u201cseverely restricting the free choice of employment.\u201d<!-- HTML_TAG_END --> <\/p>\n<p class=\"g-text  svelte-wbgwfj\"><!-- HTML_TAG_START -->The reach of these programs, and China\u2019s dominant role in the global economy, mean a wide range of multinational companies rely on suppliers that have received Uyghur workers.<!-- HTML_TAG_END --> <\/p>\n<p class=\"g-text  svelte-wbgwfj\"><!-- HTML_TAG_START -->Some of these suppliers produce goods for the Chinese market, including those we found processing chicken for McDonald\u2019s and KFC restaurants in China. Others make products for export, such as washing machines for LG Electronics and footwear for Crocs.<!-- HTML_TAG_END --> <\/p>\n<p class=\"g-text  svelte-wbgwfj\"><!-- HTML_TAG_START -->The risk of Chinese suppliers using Uyghur workers is sensitive for German automakers, including Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz and BMW, which have tried to address their history of using forced labor in the Nazi era by apologizing and compensating victims.<!-- HTML_TAG_END --> <\/p>\n<p class=\"g-text  svelte-wbgwfj\"><!-- HTML_TAG_START -->Our investigation identified more than 100 companies that appeared to receive Uyghur workers or parts or goods produced by them. Most did not respond to multiple requests for comment, including LG, Tesla, Midea and KFC. Others such as McDonald\u2019s declined to comment, or provided statements that only emphasized corporate policies prohibiting forced labor in their supply chains.<!-- HTML_TAG_END --> <\/p>\n<p class=\"g-text  svelte-wbgwfj\"><!-- HTML_TAG_START -->A handful of companies, including Crocs, denied their suppliers used forced labor, but did not address the question of whether their suppliers had hired ethnic minority workers who had been transferred by the government from Xinjiang.<!-- HTML_TAG_END --> <\/p>\n<p class=\"g-text  svelte-wbgwfj\"><!-- HTML_TAG_START -->\u201cBased on recent audits, we do not have reason to believe that any of our suppliers are in violation of our policies,\u201d the Broomfield, Colo.-based footwear company said.<!-- HTML_TAG_END --> <\/p>\n<p class=\"g-text  svelte-wbgwfj\"><!-- HTML_TAG_START -->Companies risk having their imported goods seized by customs officials in the United States if their suppliers are found to have been using forced labor. The European Union enacted legislation similar to the American law last year, but will not begin enforcing it until 2027 to give member nations time to prepare.<!-- HTML_TAG_END --> <\/p>\n<p class=\"g-text  svelte-wbgwfj\"><!-- HTML_TAG_START -->China detained more than 1 million Uyghurs in internment camps from 2017 to 2019 in the name of fighting extremism. After the camps closed, an estimated half a million Uyghurs were sentenced to prison, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hrw.org\/news\/2025\/03\/18\/thailand-raise-uyghur-abuses-xinjiang-visit\">rights groups say<\/a>.<!-- HTML_TAG_END --> <\/p>\n<p class=\"g-text  svelte-wbgwfj\"><!-- HTML_TAG_START -->State-directed labor transfer programs have been part of Beijing\u2019s efforts to assimilate Uyghurs since the early 2000s, with China\u2019s Communist Party promoting the notion that labor is honorable.<!-- HTML_TAG_END --> <\/p>\n<figure class=\"g-wrapper  svelte-141yli7 g-needs-margin-block\" style=\"\" aria-label=\"graphic\">\n<div class=\"g-block g-block-margin svelte-1jrfrvl g-margin-inline\" style=\"\">\n<div class=\"g-block-width g-max-width-body svelte-1jrfrvl\">\n<div class=\"g-wrapper_caption g-text-align-left svelte-1w7duvf\">\n<p class=\"g-credit svelte-1w7duvf\"><!-- HTML_TAG_START -->Sources: Xinjiang Airport Group; gov.cn; China Daily; Yangtse Evening Post<!-- HTML_TAG_END --><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p class=\"g-text  svelte-wbgwfj\"><!-- HTML_TAG_START -->But the programs grew significantly around the time internment camps were introduced in 2017, said Adrian Zenz, an anthropologist and a leading expert on Uyghur forced labor. Since the U.S. ban on imports from Xinjiang came into force in 2022, the number of Uyghurs transferred out of the region has grown. <!-- HTML_TAG_END --> <\/p>\n<p class=\"g-text  svelte-wbgwfj\"><!-- HTML_TAG_START -->Speaking at a press briefing in 2022, Chen Lei, an inspector from Xinjiang\u2019s Rural Revitalization Bureau, indicated that the authorities aimed to increase the number of workers moved to other parts of China by a third in 2023 to more than 38,000, according to a government report posted online.<!-- HTML_TAG_END --> <\/p>\n<p class=\"g-text  svelte-wbgwfj\"><!-- HTML_TAG_START -->Labor transfer \u201cis the only measure I see that has become more intense,\u201d said Mr. Zenz, the director of China Studies for the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation in Washington. \u201cAnd the reason for that is that this is a long term mechanism of social control and indoctrination.\u201d<!-- HTML_TAG_END --> <\/p>\n<p class=\"g-text  svelte-wbgwfj\"><!-- HTML_TAG_START -->In 2023, Xi Jinping, China\u2019s top leader, told officials during a visit to Xinjiang that they should be vigilant against threats to stability and \u201cencourage and guide Xinjiang people to go to the Chinese interior to find employment.\u201d<!-- HTML_TAG_END --> <\/p>\n<p class=\"g-text  svelte-wbgwfj\"><!-- HTML_TAG_START -->Uyghur activists accuse Beijing of relocating Uyghurs in an attempt to change the demographic composition of Xinjiang and erase expressions of Uyghur and Muslim identity.<!-- HTML_TAG_END --> <\/p>\n<p class=\"g-text  svelte-wbgwfj\"><!-- HTML_TAG_START -->\u201cThis is not about poverty alleviation. This is about dispersing Uyghurs as a group and breaking their roots,\u201d Rayhan Asat, a human rights lawyer at the Atlantic Council whose brother has been imprisoned in Xinjiang since 2016.<!-- HTML_TAG_END --> <\/p>\n<p class=\"g-text  svelte-wbgwfj\"><!-- HTML_TAG_START -->If multinational brands cannot guarantee that their suppliers are free of forced labor, then they should find other suppliers that they can guarantee are, or pull out of China altogether, Ms. Asat said.<!-- HTML_TAG_END --> <\/p>\n<p class=\"g-text  svelte-wbgwfj\"><!-- HTML_TAG_START -->In a written response, the Chinese Embassy in Washington denied that forced labor is used in Xinjiang, saying that such allegations were \u201cnothing but vicious lies concocted by anti-China forces.\u201d It said that China rejected the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, calling it an interference in China\u2019s internal affairs. <!-- HTML_TAG_END --> <\/p>\n<p class=\"g-text  svelte-wbgwfj\"><!-- HTML_TAG_START -->The statement also asserted that all residents in Xinjiang \u201cenjoy happy and fulfilling lives\u201d and that the government\u2019s policies are focused on making the region safer. \u201cXinjiang-related issues are not human rights issues at all, but in essence about countering violent terrorism and separatism,\u201d it said.<!-- HTML_TAG_END --> <\/p>\n<p><h2 class=\"g-subhed g-heading2block svelte-vgydn0\"><!-- HTML_TAG_START -->Jobs as Social Control<!-- HTML_TAG_END --><\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<p class=\"g-text  svelte-wbgwfj\"><!-- HTML_TAG_START -->Little is known about the lives of the Uyghurs sent to work in factories across China.<!-- HTML_TAG_END --> <\/p>\n<p class=\"g-text  svelte-wbgwfj\"><!-- HTML_TAG_START -->Censors frequently scrub the internet of anything deemed critical or unflattering of the government. Still, social media provides a window.<!-- HTML_TAG_END --> <\/p>\n<p class=\"g-text  svelte-wbgwfj\"><!-- HTML_TAG_START -->Some videos show workers raising their right fists and pledging allegiance before a Chinese flag, evidence of the ideological training that experts say is often mandatory for Uyghur workers on such job programs.<!-- HTML_TAG_END --> <\/p>\n<figure class=\"g-wrapper  svelte-141yli7 g-needs-margin-block\" style=\"\">\n<div class=\"g-block g-block-margin svelte-1jrfrvl g-margin-inline\" style=\"\">\n<div class=\"g-block-width g-max-width-1050px svelte-1jrfrvl\" style=\"max-width: 1050px;\">\n<figure class=\"g-grid g-grid-cols-1 g-grid-length-2 svelte-2sihmf\" style=\"--g-grid-columns: 1\" aria-label=\"media grid\">\n<div class=\"g-grid_item g-grid_item-0 svelte-2sihmf\" style=\" \">\n<figure class=\"g-wrapper  svelte-141yli7\" style=\"\">\n<div class=\"g-block g-block-margin svelte-1jrfrvl\" style=\"\">\n<div class=\"g-block-width g-max-width-default svelte-1jrfrvl\">\n<p class=\"g-label g-position- g-theme- svelte-z1ti41\"><!-- HTML_TAG_START -->A poultry processing plant in Dalian, Liaoning<!-- HTML_TAG_END --><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n<div class=\"g-grid_item g-grid_item-1 svelte-2sihmf\" style=\" \">\n<figure class=\"g-wrapper  svelte-141yli7\" style=\"\">\n<div class=\"g-block g-block-margin svelte-1jrfrvl\" style=\"\">\n<div class=\"g-block-width g-max-width-default svelte-1jrfrvl\">\n<p class=\"g-label g-position- g-theme- svelte-z1ti41\"><!-- HTML_TAG_START -->A poultry processing plant in Suizhou, Hubei<!-- HTML_TAG_END --><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p class=\"g-text  svelte-wbgwfj\"><!-- HTML_TAG_START -->The activity is about \u201cshowing loyalty to the Communist Party,\u201d said Yalkun Uluyol, the China researcher at Human Rights Watch.<!-- HTML_TAG_END --> <\/p>\n<p class=\"g-text  svelte-wbgwfj\"><!-- HTML_TAG_START -->Some videos posted by workers hint at feelings of homesickness, at times using Uyghur poetry.<!-- HTML_TAG_END --> <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div>\n<p><h2 class=\"g-subhed g-heading2block svelte-vgydn0\"><!-- HTML_TAG_START -->Thwarting a Law Aimed at Protecting Uyghurs<!-- HTML_TAG_END --><\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<p class=\"g-text  svelte-wbgwfj\"><!-- HTML_TAG_START -->From outside, the sprawling white and blue factory complex in the central Chinese city of Jingmen looks like a giant sheet cake.<!-- HTML_TAG_END --> <\/p>\n<p class=\"g-text  svelte-wbgwfj\"><!-- HTML_TAG_START -->Behind its walls, workers make automotive and aerospace equipment, specializing in lightweight aluminum chassis parts and brake systems.<!-- HTML_TAG_END --> <\/p>\n<p class=\"g-text  svelte-wbgwfj\"><!-- HTML_TAG_START -->The Hubei Hangte Equipment Manufacturing Company\u2019s website displays the logos of customers such as Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz, General Motors, Ford, Chrysler, Mazda and Hyundai. But it says nothing about the pipeline of Uyghur workers from Xinjiang that the company relies on.<!-- HTML_TAG_END --> <\/p>\n<p class=\"g-text  svelte-wbgwfj\"><!-- HTML_TAG_START -->News releases posted elsewhere say government officials visited the factory to check on workers sent from Xinjiang as recently as April last year.<!-- HTML_TAG_END --> <\/p>\n<p class=\"g-text  svelte-wbgwfj\"><!-- HTML_TAG_START -->And a video posted by a state-owned human resources company that helps facilitate labor transfers, Xinjiang Zhengcheng Minli Modern Enterprise Services, indicates that the firm recruited workers for the factory in August 2023.<!-- HTML_TAG_END --> <\/p>\n<figure class=\"g-wrapper  svelte-141yli7 g-needs-margin-block\" style=\"\">    <\/figure>\n<p class=\"g-text  svelte-wbgwfj\"><!-- HTML_TAG_START -->The previous year, Hubei Hangte <a href=\"https:\/\/archive.ph\/cGIEd#selection-399.67-399.178\">hosted a meeting<\/a> with Communist Party officials and educators from Xinjiang and described measures it had taken to better manage workers from the region. That included ensuring that their activities were \u201ccontrollable\u201d and that they refrained from \u201claxity,\u201d \u201cdrinking\u201d and, curiously, \u201cswimming in groups.\u201d<!-- HTML_TAG_END --> <\/p>\n<p class=\"g-text  svelte-wbgwfj\"><!-- HTML_TAG_START -->\u201cWe will strive to make Hangte a model unit for employment of Xinjiang people in Jingmen City,\u201d Chen Yun, the company\u2019s deputy general manager, said in a statement posted online at the time.<!-- HTML_TAG_END --> <\/p>\n<p class=\"g-text  svelte-wbgwfj\"><!-- HTML_TAG_START -->Xinjiang Zhengcheng Minli Modern Enterprise Services and Hubei Hangte did not respond to requests for comment.<!-- HTML_TAG_END --> <\/p>\n<p class=\"g-text  svelte-wbgwfj\"><!-- HTML_TAG_START -->BMW acknowledged that Hubei Hangte may provide parts to one of its direct suppliers. It said it has asked that supplier to investigate<em>.<\/em> Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz and Chrysler\u2019s parent company, Stellantis, also said they had opened investigations.<!-- HTML_TAG_END --> <\/p>\n<p class=\"g-text  svelte-wbgwfj\"><!-- HTML_TAG_START -->Mazda said it had no \u201cdirect\u201d relationship with Hubei Hangte, and General Motors, Ford and Hyundai said they prohibited forced labor in their supply chains but declined to answer questions about Hubei Hangte.<!-- HTML_TAG_END --> <\/p>\n<p class=\"g-text  svelte-wbgwfj\"><!-- HTML_TAG_START -->It is not uncommon for global brands to have several layers of suppliers, explaining why companies may not have a direct relationship with a factory.<!-- HTML_TAG_END --> <\/p>\n<p class=\"g-text  svelte-wbgwfj\"><!-- HTML_TAG_START -->Shipment records provided by a trade data firm show that<em>, <\/em>since May 2021, Hubei Hangtei\u2019s parts have been shipped to India, Indonesia, Mexico, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Canada, as well as the United States, where shipments would be subject to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act.<!-- HTML_TAG_END --> <\/p>\n<p class=\"g-text  svelte-wbgwfj\"><!-- HTML_TAG_START -->One U.S. customer of the Chinese company is a subsidiary of the German auto parts manufacturer Mahle Industrial Thermal Systems, which said in a statement that it prohibits the use of forced labor by its suppliers. Mahle did not answer questions about Hubei Hangte.<!-- HTML_TAG_END --> <\/p>\n<p class=\"g-text  svelte-wbgwfj\"><!-- HTML_TAG_START -->Another transaction that may violate the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act occurred last July, when a Chinese manufacturer of computer equipment known as Transimage sent at least two shipments to a San Diego address for Samsung America Electronics, according to trade data.<!-- HTML_TAG_END --> <\/p>\n<p class=\"g-text  svelte-wbgwfj\"><!-- HTML_TAG_START -->Transimage, also known as Jiangsu Chuanyi Technology Company Ltd., received help recruiting workers from a labor dispatch center in Akqi County in Xinjiang in 2023, according to a post on a local government social media account. Social media posts by workers show employees at the factory who appear to be Kyrgyz wearing teal jackets embroidered with the company\u2019s name.<!-- HTML_TAG_END --> <\/p>\n<p class=\"g-text  svelte-wbgwfj\"><!-- HTML_TAG_START -->Transimage did not respond to requests for comment. Samsung said in a statement that it found no evidence of forced labor at Jiangsu Chuanyi Technology, adding that it \u201cprohibits its suppliers from using all forms of forced labor.\u201d<!-- HTML_TAG_END --> <\/p>\n<p class=\"g-text  svelte-wbgwfj\"><!-- HTML_TAG_START --><em>This article was produced with support from the Pulitzer Center.<\/em><!-- HTML_TAG_END --> <\/p>\n<p class=\"g-text g-detailblock svelte-wbgwfj\"><!-- HTML_TAG_START -->Shawn Paik contributed video production.<!-- HTML_TAG_END --> <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By David Pierson, Vivian Wang and Daniel MurphyGraphics by Pablo Robles. 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